Wheel chock assemblies are used to secure a wheel in place for a limited amount of time. Such assemblies in the prior art typically consist of flanges of a particular shape that interact with the wheel to keep it in a certain desired position. Examples of these prior art wheel chock assemblies are disclosed in the following United States patents: Pat. No. 3,120,292 (Rambat), Pat. No. 4,854,790 (Andre) and Pat. No. 6,378,956 (Van De Walker).
These wheel chock assemblies of the prior art have, however, a number of problems and shortcomings. They are often bulky, thereby making them difficult to transport and manage. Given the nature of the use of a wheel chock assembly, it has to be transported to the location where it is needed. While it would be desirable to store the wheel chock assembly in the trunk of a vehicle or other storage space, most wheel chock assemblies in the prior art are hard to manage since they usually require a large amount of storage space given their large size. This storage space could be allocated to other and better uses if the assembly was smaller. A wheel chock assembly that is easily collapsible would therefore be greatly appreciated not only for being conveniently portable but also for its advantages when stored between uses.
In addition, utilization of most wheel chock assemblies can be difficult and time consuming. There has therefore long been a need for a wheel chock assembly that is quick and easy to operate when the need for such a device arises. In particular, there have been many occasions where a shopper will be attempting to empty the contents of his or her shopping cart into the trunk of their vehicle when the wheeled cart begins to roll away from both the shopper and the vehicle. Not only does this make unloading the contents of the cart difficult, but oftentimes the cart rolls away unnoticed, colliding with other objects, including other vehicles. Having available a wheel chock assembly that is both simple to store and easy to use in such situations would be a great convenience to such individuals.
This invention meets these needs and overcomes other problems and shortcomings in the prior art with an apparatus that is simple and inexpensive to construct, not at all complicated to maintain, and also highly reliable to use.